Mass Effect: The Bullet Bitten
by Biotiwitch
Summary: An assassination attempt leads Garrus and the Normandy crew back to Omega, where they are forced dig up old skeletons in order to put Archangel to rest.
1. Chapter 1 - A Night to Remember

Chapter 1 – A Night to Remember

"Where the hell are they?" James Vega griped next to Garrus Vakarian, anxiously tugging on the jacket sleeve of his tuxedo as they stood waiting outside the doors of a fancy 'five-star' restaurant. Garrus cast a bemused glance at the burly Alliance soldier, noting how out of place and uncomfortable James appeared to be there on the Presidium despite wearing the fancy getup. "Do they have any idea how hard it was to get reservations at this fancy place? I swear they reject celebrities daily… I heard they even rejected Blasto!"

Garrus snorted and crossed his arms, his mandibles shifting as he addressed James. "You used Shepard's name and the manager of the place was pretty much tripping over himself making our reservations. 'Hard' is a bit of an overstatement."

"Okay, fine… it was easy. They're still late, I'm still hungry, and this still seems like it'll be boring." James cracked the knuckles in his right hand, each individual crack irritating Garrus. "Why couldn't we do a double date at the shooting range or shop for weapons and mods? I mean, girls usually like shopping, don't they? Grab some drinks and burgers afterwards… that's romantic, right?" When Garrus didn't answer, James let out a huff. "Seems a hell of a lot more romantic than sitting together around a table and having eye staring contests over foods whose names I can't even pronounce."

"The ladies wanted to try doing something that didn't involve guns or bullets for a change. Going out to dinner and dropping some credits at the Casino seemed like a safe enough bet." Garrus iterated, recalling the conversation he'd had with Shepard the night before. "Beautiful women, wine, fine food, dancing, and losing credits… what's not to like? If you play your cards right, you might get lucky at the end of the night."

James stopped fidgeting and threw Garrus a wry grin. "Safe enough bet? Shepard does recall what happened the last time she attempted to enjoy a 'fine dining experience,' right? And don't get me started with her reputation regarding casinos! Maybe this night could get interesting."

Garrus laughed as he remembered the sushi-bar incident that eventually escalated to a battle aboard the Normandy with Shepard's clone. "I doubt it. I think one crazy Shepard clone was all Cerberus could afford to make…"

James shrugged, "You know what Joker likes to say. 'With Shepard there's always an eighty-five percent chance of bullets being involved. It's why he'll never meet Shepard at a restaurant ever again."

"No, he said he'd never meet Shepard at a restaurant again because she used him as bait to draw out some Cat-6 mercenaries. He also refuses to enter unexplored relays with Shepard ever again because we barely survived the Omega-4 relay jump. As far as I know, he's never really had an issue with Shepard and bullets." Garrus glanced up from James as he heard the pitched whine of a sky car approaching. "Looks like they've finally arrived."

"Finally!" James turned to face the opening sky car with a disgruntled expression that made Garrus think he was going to berate the women for their tardiness, if not their activity choice. Instead, the soldier's expression softened and his jaw dropped as he caught sight of the two women approaching them. "Holy hell…"

Garrus followed James' gaze and felt his own mandible drop open in shock. Both Ashley Williams and Commander Shepard approached looking like human supermodels… dressed to the nines in outfits he'd never thought he'd see either woman wear. Ashley looked good in a short, navy blue number, her long black hair loose about her bare shoulders as she grinned at James. But Shepard…

Commander Shepard was wearing a simple, floor-length black dress with a plunging neckline and a thigh-high slit that revealed enough skin to make Garrus' stomach twist itself into knots. Her thick hair was pulled back and tied up into some fanciful creation, baring her slender neck and shoulders. The only piece of jewelry she wore was the eponymous N7 dog tags she never took off, dangling between her breasts tauntingly as she walked up to him. "You boys ready?" Shepard asked casually, motioning toward the doors of the restaurant.

Garrus shook his head and cleared his throat, pulling free of the trance he'd fallen into staring at Shepard. "Yeah… Vega's stomach growls louder than a Krogan in heat…" he quipped in an attempt to cover the fact that he'd been caught off-guard by Shepard's appearance.

"What?" James broke his focus and stared at Garrus. "Really? You had to ruin the moment with that image? Ugh… And my stomach doesn't growl that loudly!" He harrumphed and grabbed Ashley's hand before they headed on into the restaurant. Garrus turned to Shepard to offer her his arm, but instead found her staring him down with an intense look, her arms crossed. "What?" he asked, unnerved by the unfamiliar expression and worried he'd done something wrong.

"Nothing. It's just so damned rare to see you out of your armor… in public that is." Shepard cast him a rueful grin, her hazel eyes sparkling with a wicked glint that made his nerves tingle. "Thought I'd enjoy the view for a moment." She casually took his arm and they walked into the restaurant after James and Ashley. He dropped her arm and let his hand fall to her behind and she gave him a little shove. "Behave yourself, Vakarian." she warned.

"Building up tension for the dance floor, are we?" Garrus teased, an elation overcoming him as he watched a red tinge build up in Shepard's cheeks. "Are you blushing, Commander?"

Shepard let out a nervous cough and turned her attention from him. Garrus chuckled, enjoying the fact that he could throw the Commander off as much as she threw him off. "I can't remember the last time I'd properly gone out on a dinner date," she quickly commented as the maître de motioned for the group to follow him.

James snorted obnoxiously, drawing a few irritated and curious glances from some of the other diners. "Really? How can you forget having your own clone track you down and attempt to kill you at Ryusei's sushi bar?" he asked, pulling out a chair for Ashley to sit in. The maître de eyed him distastefully before shaking his head and wandering away. "If something as crazy as that happened to me, you can bet your ass I'd never forget it."

"I don't think that episode with the clone counted as a 'proper' dinner date, Vega." Ashley corrected James as she accepted a glass of wine from their waiter. She sipped the wine and cast James a hard glance. "I sure as hell wouldn't count it as a date… so don't you go getting any ideas!"

"First off, no one could clone this much awesomeness!" James made his usual muscle-man pose and grunted, while Ashley just rolled her eyes. "Secondly, with Shepard it pretty much counts as a date." He sniggered, "I'll bet you and Garrus consider your 'first date' as that suicide mission you took through the Omega-4 relay."

Shepard looked thoughtful as she accepted her wine glass from the waiter. "I don't know about that. Things got pretty spicy while we were fighting our way through Hotel Azure on Ilium." She set down her wine glass, gingerly picked up the menu pad before her, and began swiping through the food selections as both Ashley and James gave her looks of disbelief. When she didn't elaborate, they turned their attentions to Garrus and he let out low chuckle and picked up his own menu. "Good times…" he hummed, tapping the menu icon for the dextro-meals.

"Nuh-uh…" James shook his head in wonder. "Hotel Azure? Isn't that…" he coughed when Ashley threw him a warning glance.

"Ask Liara. She was there." Shepard said coyly and Garrus snickered when James' eyes grew wider.

"Now that you two have given my boyfriend ideas…" Ashley set down her suddenly empty wine glass and glowered at Shepard and Garrus, "Can we order? The way his stomach is growling is making me nervous."

"It's not growling that loudly!" James sighed as he wrinkled his nose at the menu. "Umm… I'll get the escar- the escargot a la- That thingy right there!" James pointed the item out on the menu before handing it off to Ashley in exasperation. "Stupid Italian…?"

"It's French not Italian. We should get your translator checked out." She paused as she eyed his selection on the menu. "You sure you want snails?" Ashley asked him with a smirk.

"Wait… that's snails? Who in their right mind- ugh! Give me that!" James grabbed the menu roughly and started quickly flipping through the other specials. "This is ridiculous!" he exclaimed. "Don't they have English translations for this stuff?" He furiously tapped at the screen, "You think they serve pizza here?" he asked exasperatedly.

"Makes me glad Turian food is pretty straightforward." Garrus quipped, selecting a couple of items from the dextro specials. "Otherwise Shepard would have a hell of a time prepping meals for me at home."

Shepard shrugged nonchalantly. "I gamble when I make your food. Since you haven't complained about my cooking yet, I'm starting wondering if any of it is actually any good or if you don't have the balls to tell me my dextro cooking sucks." She reached over and tapped on a menu item for James. "Try the Tarte Flambée." Shepard suggested, helpfully. "It's kind of like pizza made with onions and bacon."

"Really, Shepard? James if you eat that don't expect me to kiss you later." Ashley threatened.

"I doubt you'll be awake the way you're downing that wine." James muttered as he accepted the selection and set down the datapad to take a draught of his glass of water.

"What?" Ashley's eyes narrowed.

"Come on Ash! We haven't even been here for ten minutes and you're already starting on your second glass!" James pointed out. "If you wanted to go drinking, we should've gone out and did some real drinking instead."

"What are you saying, Vega? That I'm a lush?" Ashley asked angrily, her tone dropping low and dangerous as she planted her palms flat on the table.

"You said it. Not me." Vega held up his hands in surrender.

"Wow. This outing definitely deteriorated fast." Shepard commented to Garrus as James and Ashley started arguing heatedly.

"And you were worried about me behaving myself?" Garrus asked jokingly. He chuckled at Shepard after she playfully kicked him in the leg. "I'm just saying…"

Before Garrus could continue, he was cut off by the sound of something clattering on the tiled floor followed by an all-too-familiar beep and whoosh. A heavy screen of smoke filled the restaurant, prompting a cacophony of yells, coughing, and gagging noises from the other patrons. Gunfire went off then and Garrus instinctively jumped from his chair as Shepard quickly flipped their table up and took up cover behind it. He settled in next to Shepard and glanced over to where Ashley and James had done something similar with a nearby table. "Just once… could we go out somewhere nice without your enemies showing up to take revenge and kill you?" he complained lightheartedly, his voice barely audible over the chaos.

Just as Shepard was about to protest, one of the intruders called out orders. "Split up people! Find Archangel!" Hearing his old codename being shouted over the chaos brought back a curious sense of déjà vu. He turned to consult Shepard about it only find her giving him smug look. "What was that about _my_ enemies?" she asked with feigned innocence.

Garrus harrumphed defensively. "Yeah, well whose idea was it to try doing something that required we be unarmed and vulnerable?"

"Do I look stupid to you?" Shepard gave him a funny look before producing two pistols. "What? You didn't think I'd learned from the first time around?"

"Where the hell were you keeping those?" he asked as he took one of the heavy pistols from her and checked the heat sinks.

Shepard gave him an enticing look as she slid the second pistol over toward Ashley and James. "Wouldn't you like to know."

"Damn you're so smart and sexy…" he purred, lightly bumping his forehead to hers.

"Hey, lovebirds? How about we focus on the group of armed commandoes threatening the restaurant full of innocent civilians?" Ashley snatched up the pistol Shepard slid over to her and expertly checked it. "Has the smoke cleared enough for a count?" she asked James.

"Are you sober enough to shoot?" James asked irritably. He yelped when Ashley punched him in the arm, before peering over this cover to take count. "At least ten. And they're packing." James loosened the collar of his jacket and rolled up the sleeves. "What's the plan Commander?"

"I'll use biotics. Garrus and I can strip shields with overloading. Ash is the better shot of you two, so you just sit tight while she and Garrus snipe as many as they can." Shepard flexed her hands and biotic energy flowed over her like water, making her glow a distinct blue. "I'll draw their attention from the civil-"

The voice called out again, cutting off Shepard's orders. "We've got an old friend of yours Archangel! Or should I say Garrus Vakarian? Sidonis didn't mention which you preferred."

At the mention of Sidonis' name Garrus felt a rush of emotion. Anger rose up, making his blood boil, but dread chilled him to the bone as he was forced to think back to his time on Omega. He caught Shepard gazing at him; her hazel eyes were wide and unwavering as she looked to him, her lips pressed into a thin line. He realized then she was looking _to_ him, practically relinquishing her command to him as the situation had presented more information. "Spirits be damned…" he cursed quietly.

"Give yourself up or your family's next." The thug threatened from across the room. "Now that we know who you are, we know about your father and your sister. Solana is her name, right? We sure would love an opportunity to meet her."

Garrus tightened his grip on his weapon and glanced at Shepard, giving her a nod to go. She snapped up and triggered an overload of systems on two of the thugs before charging from her and Garrus' hiding spot to slide into better cover. Garrus raised the gun and quickly aimed, not even bothering to use the targeting aid provided by his visor as he loosed two clean head shots into the unshielded thugs. He ducked as bullets flew over the table, ejecting his used thermal clips. To his right, he saw Ashley shooting and James peering over their table. He signaled for them to hold back when they finally dropped down for cover again.

A satisfying cry sounded from beyond his cover, telling Garrus that Shepard just took out another one of the bastards. He let out a breath and popped out of cover, taking a couple of shots that embedded themselves in the shoulder of a Turian mercenary. He rolled into cover opposite Shepard, who'd gotten her hands on one of the mercenary's assault rifles. She glanced toward him and signaled that she'd give him cover fire just as something small clattered along the floor between them. "Flashbang!" Shepard yelped too late.

The concussive force of the grenade threw Garrus back and he blinked fiercely against the white light that filled his vision. Tightening his grip on his pistol, he forced himself to his hands and knees, trying to ignore the high-pitched whine in his head. He chanced a quick look toward Shepard, who looked really dazed and distracted as she tried to regain her own bearing. With a deep, steadying breath, Garrus rose to his feet with his pistol in hand, hoping to distract the bastards long enough for Shepard to recover. He could barely make out the forms of the advancing mercenaries as he held up his pistol and fired rounds into them. Two of them fell, taking bullets to the head and chest; Garrus felt a sense of confidence flicker in the back of his mind.

Despite his efforts, a couple of the mercenaries got close enough for melee and Garrus rolled back to avoid a strike from his assailant. He quickly closed the distance between himself and his attacker then, ramming his fist into the attacker's abdomen to knock the air out of him before punching him out. Shepard tried to spring up out of cover and loose rounds into her own attacker, but she misjudged how far the man had been and she crumpled to the floor after he checked her with the butt of his assault rifle. The man aimed to shoot Shepard in the head, but before he could pull the trigger, James barreled in out of nowhere, wrestling the man to the ground and effectively knocking him out with a headbutt. "Eight down, two to go!" he whooped.

Ashley barely managed to grab him by the sleeve and drag him into cover just as the remaining two thugs both opened fire on him. "How about we celebrate later, Vega?"

"You alright?" Garrus asked worriedly, watching as Shepard pushed herself to her hands and knees and shook her head.

Shepard groaned and raised a hand to her head. "Yeah…" she pulled back her hand and stared at it curiously. Garrus heart nearly stopped when he caught sight of something brilliant red coating her fingers, standing out in stark contrast to her pale skin. "Maybe…" she trailed off as the remaining two thugs fired another volley.

With a low, angry growl, Garrus glanced toward the remaining two thugs, his mind racing to think of an easy, quick solution to the madness. And when he saw it he didn't hesitate: Garrus aimed the pistol for the chain holding up one of the dozen fancy chandeliers in the restaurant, this particular one dangling above the very group he sought to eliminate. His visor flashed as it scanned his target, and he pulled the trigger on the pistol, silently praying to the spirits that the chain would break and his mad plan would put an end to the assault.

And it did. The chandelier landed with a loud crash on top of the last thugs, their cries drowned out by the shattering of hundreds of crystals on the restaurant floor. People screamed and ran when it became obvious the thugs were dealt with, quickly evacuating the room in unruly fashion. Garrus found himself slowly lowering his weapon as he stared at the disaster before him, his rage and wrath quickly turning to fear and despair. They'd come looking for him. They'd threatened his family. His friends. And Shepard…

He felt a hand on his arm then and turned to see Shepard staring up at him. Her fancy updo was a ragged mess, her stylish dress was covered in food and torn... she gave him soft look and was about to say something. Instead she lurched and Garrus dropped his pistol to catch her before she hit the floor. "Maybe not…" she muttered as she rested heavily against him.


	2. Chapter 2 - Til Death Do Us Part

Chapter 2 – 'Til Death Do Us Part

"Did I ever tell you how much I don't like doctors?" Shepard grimaced as Dr. Chakwas finished up stitching the gash she received when the thug hit her with his rifle. Once C-Sec finally arrived to contain the situation at the restaurant, Garrus insisted on dragging Shepard out to Huerta Memorial to get checked out, despite her vehement protests. Lucky for the doctors and nurses on staff, Dr. Chakwas was available and arrived to handle Shepard's injuries personally. Garrus doubted anyone else in the galaxy could get Shepard to sit down and receive treatment… without sedatives or tranquilizers anyway. Or three really tough orderlies to hold her down… maybe Krogan orderlies. The thought of Shepard kicking the shit out of Krogan orderlies made him snigger aloud, earning him a dour look from both Shepard and Dr. Chakwas.

"Oh you've informed me so every time you've had to visit me against your will. You should've thought of that before you pursued a career that required you need fixing up by a doctor every five minutes." Dr. Chakwas chuckled and shared a knowing look with Garrus across the room, her gray eyes bright and youthful despite her age. "You'll have to watch her for any signs of concussion and such. I did scans and they didn't indicate anything. And yet…" She stepped back from Shepard and flashed light in Shepard's eyes, making her wince and hiss. "The tests aren't exactly conclusive. She's always been uncooperative during physicals and treatment. It's impossible to be sure of anything where she's involved…"

"I'm fine, _Karin_." Shepard grumbled, waving the doctor off as she eyed the door to the examination room, "Leave me be."

"Don't even think about making a break for it, Shepard." Chakwas warned. She reached over to the datapad on the table next to Shepard and tapped in her observations. "No slurring. Normal pupil dilation. Cognitive function appears to be intact. And as charming a personality as ever…" She was still smiling as she shook her head at Shepard's antics. "I do believe she's fine. We both know she's survived far worse. I still recommend that she be resting and supervised in case, but we all know how well she follows my medical advice."

"Thanks, Dr. Chakwas." Garrus nodded toward the doctor, relief flooding through him. Knowing that Shepard was going to be alright certainly alleviated some of the guilt he'd been harboring from the moment their assailants called out 'Archangel.' "At least _I_ appreciate you helping us out with this."

"This was nothing! Remember that time I took a bullet to the clavicle? Now that hurt like a son-of-a-bitch!" Shepard swore, gingerly running her fingers along the stitches in her scalp. Garrus strode over and examined the delicate stitch-work along her hairline for himself. Shepard looked up at him and grinned, "And this doesn't even begin to compare to the time Garrus took a rocket to the face! Remember that one Dr. Chakwas?"

Dr. Chakwas' smile didn't waver as she picked up the datapad she'd been typing on. "With you two running amok, I'll never see retirement." She joked amicably, shaking her head again as she left the room. "Now wait here for a few minutes, Shepard. I'll be back with the discharge orders…"

Shepard's gaze locked on Garrus the moment the door slid shut. "Are you fucking insane?"

Garrus blinked at Shepard. "What?"

"That chandelier stunt could've hurt a bystander! I know for a fact you weren't considering that when you shot it down!" She punched him hard in the arm and he yelped. "All these years working together and I'm still trying to teach you the concept of collateral damage!"

Garrus let out an indignant growl; he found Shepard's comment to be amusing as well as ironic and derisive. "Yeah. Because 'you' never leave a trail of chaos and death in your wake."

Shepard fell silent, obviously unable to deny his point. Garrus knew it was a low blow considering Shepard did what she had to in order to stop the Reapers, but after the events of the day he was in no mood to defend his actions with reasoning he knew had flaws. After a few tense moments, Shepard finally said "Okay… maybe I'm not the best example here. But still… I want you to be better than me!" She stopped herself then and frowned at him, worry lines creasing their way over her forehead. "You alright? They threatened Sol and your dad."

"And Sidonis apparently. Think they finally did what you refused to let me do two years ago?" Garrus asked petulantly, knowing full well he was just picking a fight now.

He quickly found out that was the wrong thing to do. Shepard's gaze grew cold and serious and Garrus found himself struggling to keep eye contact. "We both know that's not who you are, Garrus. There was no way in hell I was letting you compromise who you were because you were still reeling from what happened on Omega."

"So instead of a quick, clean death from my sniper-rifle, he ends up dying painfully from whatever torture these bastards inflicted?" Garrus scoffed. "Yep. We're just downright merciful, you and I."

"Well you must've forgotten to calibrate my crystal ball or something because there was no way in hell I'd have foreseen this happening two years ago, Garrus." Shepard snapped angrily. She let out a tired sigh and rubbed her temples. Garrus watched her fingers gingerly trace along the stitches again and he felt guilty for riling her up. "Look, arguing about this won't fix this mess. We need to get to the bottom of this if we're gonna help any of them. Any idea who it is we're dealing with?"

Garrus' tension eased some and he pulled up a seat across from where Shepard sat on the exam table, rubbing the back of his neck as he struggled to think. "Considering they mentioned my old codename and Sidonis, I think it's safe to assume an enemy I'd made on Omega has finally tracked me down. But we dealt with Garm, Tarak, and Jaroth. And the group we were fighting didn't appear to be a part of the Blood Pack, Eclipse, or the Blue Suns factions. It just doesn't make sense…"

With a hum of discontent, Shepard crossed her arms and a pensive expression crossed her face as she commenced with voicing her thoughts aloud; aloud being a rather irritable muttering thing she tended to do whenever she had to process something mentally. "Okay, so we're not talking about the big three. Well, there isn't evidence enough to discount them completely… but a minor gang maybe? Though everyone was led to believe you'd died in the final assault on your old base of operations. We've gone to Omega numerous times and nobody's recognized you as Archangel. The only people who knew about you being Archangel were with Cerberus and the Normandy crew… Cerberus is done and the Normandy crew… well some of them might have a grudge but I doubt they'd go that far. Joker would probably just spam your omni-tool with hanar porn or something…" She stopped muttering and looked up at Garrus with a teasing smile. "What are the chances this was a one-time deal?"

Garrus let out a dry laugh, grateful she could turn a conversation from grim to blithe in a matter of seconds. "Yeah, I don't think so Shepard. I highly doubt the lot of them were sitting around bored one afternoon and decided 'Hey let's go shoot Archangel and Commander Shepard!' You and I, we don't make stupid enemies. Vengeful and well-funded enemies certainly, but not stupid."

Shepard gave an obnoxious snort in response. "They must be a bit stupid. I mean they're challenging Shepard and Vakarian, after all!" With a resigned huff, Shepard pushed herself up from her perch on the table and made her way over to the door. "Let's move."

"Where are you going?" Garrus got out of his chair and grabbed Shepard's arm. "Dr. Chakwas hasn't even discharged you yet."

Shepard turned and gave him an 'are-you-serious' look. "I intend to find, torture, and shoot the bastards who dared to threaten my in-laws. What do you think?"

"What do I think? I think you could have a concussion! Or worse! Damnit all, Shepard!" Garrus growled, angry at how relentless his wife could be. But as angry as he was with her, Garrus couldn't help but be in awe of her as well. There once was a time he believed Krogan to be the most stubborn species in the Milky Way galaxy… but then in walked Shepard, hell bent on proving him wrong at every turn.

"I need to stay awake. Hunting bad guys keeps me awake. So let's find me some bad guys!" Shepard said cheerfully, giving him her signature 'try and stop me!' smirk.

Before Garrus could continue what he knew would be a pointless argument, the door to the exam room opened and James and Ashley shuffled in, still dressed in their now ruined formal attire. "See! I told you she'd be fine. The woman literally took a hit from Harbinger's beam and still managed to pick herself up and kick the Reaper race to hell. A little bang to the head won't bring Lola down." James crossed his arms and winked at Shepard, "Tell her you're good, Lola!"

"Sure… which Ash should I say it to?" Shepard asked and Garrus, Ashley, and James all tensed anxiously. "I'm fine! Bad joke!" Shepard laughed, holding her hands before her to reassure them. "How's the situation back at the restaurant?"

"Well the moment it looked like it would be a shitstorm, Bailey showed up to reign in the situation. He rounded up the witnesses and told the press to get the hell off the premises. C-Sec's taken over the scene and they took the surviving bastards into custody. Bailey told James and I to get out before people could put two and two together. I mean two human Spectres in the very restaurant that gets attacked by a group of unknown assailants? The Council definitely won't be happy with us." Ashley answered as she picked a piece of shrimp out of her hair and made a face. She then glanced Shepard up and down worriedly. "You sure you're alright, Skipper? I could do the interrogating if you want."

Shepard waved Ashley off. "I'm fine, alright? Besides, Garrus should be the one to go in and interrogate them. He's got one hell of a bad cop routine and seeing Archangel alive with the upper hand may be enough to get them talking if watching all their buddies die didn't loosen their lips. Exactly how many of the bastards survived the fight?"

"Two. One Garrus punched out and the one who knocked you upside the head. You know… the one I saved your fine ass from." James bragged, performing his obnoxious muscle pose to emphasize his point.

"Shove it, Vega." Shepard said coolly, "Or Lola's never gonna save your fine ass ever again." She turned and faced Garrus then, arms crossed. "So how do you want to proceed?"

Garrus was taken aback by the question. That was twice now Shepard had relinquished command to him. Certainly, the thugs had been after him, but she'd been affected by the whole affair as well. And considering the rather heated argument they'd been having mere moments earlier, Garrus had been pretty sure she was going to step up and take the situation into her own capable hands like she always did. But there she was, giving him whiplash in typical Shepard-fashion as she looked to him once more. He shook his head and cleared his throat, his mind scrambling to put the pieces together. "Well first we've got to interrogate the bastards from the restaurant to confirm our theory about the enemy coming from Omega. We might be able to shake them down for names and meeting locations, but I doubt it. Anyone with the balls to go after us would want to play smart. These men were likely just a group of hired thugs sent out draw our attention if they weren't lucky enough to kill us."

"'Well-armed' and 'well-informed' thugs, considering their equipment and how they managed to track you down." Shepard pointed out. "Depending on how 'well-paid' they were we might not get any answers out of them. You said it yourself, we make vengeful and well-funded enemies. If that's the case what then?"

"We contact our friendly neighborhood Shadow Broker to see if she can dig up anything pertinent. I'll probably have her focus on the mercenaries' backgrounds and recent work." He playfully elbowed Shepard, hoping to lighten up the somber mood that had taken hold of the group. "Probably have her run a trace on their weapons too. We may have to hit up the Casino tonight after all!"

"You people seriously need to let that go." Shepard said flatly, unamused by Garrus' attempt. She gave Garrus a cautious glance before suggesting, "You should probably have the Shadow Broker look into Sidonis' recent whereabouts as well. They could've been bluffing about his involvement. But even if they weren't, where they nabbed him could offer insight."

Garrus nodded solemnly, his mood quickly dissipating at the mention of his ex-colleague. "Agreed. And while I'm not relishing the idea, we may need to bring him into this on the off-chance he knows who'd be attacking me now."

Shepard let out a loud, obnoxious groan that drew everyone's attentions, "What's with people? The moment the galaxy isn't in peril somebody decides to bring up old vendettas or stir up trouble and I've gotta drop everything to go and shove my boot up their ass… Next thing you know they're just lining up for ass kicking and by the time I get done with them, all of known-civilization will be knee-deep in yet another galaxy-shattering crisis that only we'll be able to fix." She crossed her arms and made a pout, an expression Garrus had found to be both endearing and annoying whenever Shepard wasn't getting her way, "When's a woman supposed to catch a break?"

"Right, Shepard's self-pity party aside…" Garrus faced Ashley, who was still picking dinner out of her hair and from her clothes. "You and Vega go interrogate the would-be assassins and find out what you can from Bailey's investigation. I'm going to contact my dad and sister before I call up our Shadow Broker. I'm sure they'd appreciate knowing I've got old enemies threatening them and all. Hopefully Liara will be able to give us something more to go on."

"And while you're all doing that, I'll find Joker and the rest of the crew and get the Normandy ready to go!" Shepard announced as she made what had to be her fifteenth attempt to escape the examination room since Garrus had brought her in. "Let's move people!"

"Shepard…" Garrus started but Shepard cut him off.

"I don't want to hear it, Vakarian! How exactly do you intend to get to Omega without my ship or my crew? Will you hitch a ride with a merchant freighter? Take a mundane passenger liner? I doubt they'll let you bring your whole arsenal aboard and by the time you get to Omega your enemy will have gotten bored and moved on. Give it up Garrus! It's your mission, but there's no way in hell I'm not going with… 'til death do us part!" Shepard turned toward the door again just as Dr. Chakwas re-entered the exam room with a look of displeasure. "Ah, crap…"

"And where do you think you're going, Commander?" Dr. Chakwas took a firm stance and crossed her arms as she stared Shepard down. "Firstly, I haven't even discharged you yet. Secondly, did you think I wouldn't find out you weren't up to date on your vaccinations? And you haven't been attending any of your follow-up appointments regarding treated injuries 'I' told you needed monitoring." Chakwas held up her datapad and starting tapping in information. "I've ordering a complete blood panel, full-body scan, and every vaccine known to treat humankind, Shepard. You just sit back down on that examination table before I call in nurses to restrain and sedate you."

Garrus chuckled as he quipped "You sure the vows weren't 'til Chakwas do us part!'?"

"Oh go call Liara before I decide to assist whoever's trying to have you assassinated. Smart-ass…" Shepard snapped as she stomped back toward the exam table. "All right, Doc. Let's get this done quickly… Someone out there needs my boot up his ass!"


	3. Chapter 3 - A Warm Welcome

Chapter 3 – A Warm Welcome

"So let me get this straight… the four of you were out on a double date at some fancy restaurant… are we talking French-guy at the door serious? Nevermind… when suddenly you guys were attacked by a bunch of mercenaries looking to get even with Archangel. Bullets flew, mercs died, Vega didn't get his bacon-onion pizza, and now we're headed to the seedy underbelly of the galactic community to figure out who, what, and why." Flight Lieutenant Jeff "Joker" Moreau turned his driver seat around to face Garrus, Shepard, Ashley, and Vega, who were all armed and ready for action. "What is this? Garrus' and Shepard's honeymoon?"

"Nice!" Vega laughed. Joker accepted a high five from the burly Alliance soldier and Garrus could tell the pilot immediately regretted the interaction as he let out a hiss and shook out his hand. "Always figured their honeymoon would take place on Tuchanka or something, but Omega works too!"

"As if! When the galaxy isn't demanding our attentions, our honeymoon will be taking place on a nice beach on a planet whose I name I won't be mentioning for sake of privacy and peace of mind!" Shepard announced as she casually leaned back against the wall with her arms crossed. "Garrus and I have been planning the trip for months and I don't want anything or anyone interfering."

"So… Tarith?" Vega ventured again playfully.

Joker just shook his head. "That's a good guess, but I doubt it. Too much wildlife and not enough mercenary activity for Garrus' tastes. Plus, that toxic atmosphere wouldn't inspire that romantic mood… I'm guessing Korlus!"

Shepard rolled her eyes. "Why do you people assume Garrus and I can't get it on unless we're trapped in dire circumstances?"

"Because… you're obviously armed, so I'm not going to answer that question!" Joker sniggered at Shepard's irritated scowl, facing his seat forward again. "At any rate it's good to be flying the old girl again. It's not quite the same… but it's still good." Joker's voice trailed off as he cast a sad glance toward the co-pilot's seat to his right. Garrus followed his gaze, the faint pangs of regret troubling him as he too remembered the Normandy's AI, EDI. "She's all I've really got left in this galaxy… it's a shame she's been grounded for so long." the Alliance pilot said wistfully.

Shepard uncrossed her arms and took a step toward Joker, gently putting a hand on his shoulder. "Joker- "

"I'm good, Shepard." Joker stated, attempting to busy himself with haptic interface spread out before him. Garrus almost would've believed the pilot's attempt if not for the emotional crack in his voice as he spoke. "Let's just focus on getting you and Garrus out of trouble. Again."

"So, our would-be assassins revealed they were approached by their customer's rep on Omega. A lot of credits were paid up front and they were given a detailed profile on Garrus. His family, friends, regular contacts… they even knew what fancy restaurant he'd be at. Obviously, they weren't aware he'd have back-up. Otherwise that whole scenario could've turned out quite different." Ashley spoke up, interrupting what would have been a depressingly awkward silence. "You know I've never been to Omega. What's it like?"

Garrus couldn't decide if he found Ashley's question to be naïve or her lack of knowledge as privileged. "Dirty, dangerous, and bustling… think the Citadel without C-Sec or politicians." He answered automatically, keeping his definition concise but accurate.

Joker perked up and turned in his chair, "And mercs! Mercs as far as the eye can see! Think you'll run into Zaeed?" Joker asked comedically.

"Nope. Talked to him about a week ago, and he said something about making a hunting trip to Zorya." Shepard answered. "Didn't bother prying."

"Oh. Too bad… he might've heard something through his merc buddies." Joker stated. "Hell, he was probably offered the bounty; likely he turned it down out of respect for you two. Knowing Zaeed, he might've passed it along to some of his buddies in hopes you'll take out his competition in the business."

"Right. Your guys' taste in friends aside, I'm not a fan of this whole going in blind situation." Ashley bit her lip, a pensive expression crossing her dusky features as she continued, "But I suppose we've gone on less… Like that one-time Anderson sent us out to search the whole Artemis Tau cluster for Liara while we were hunting down Saren. Speaking of Little Miss Prothean Expert, did you manage to get a hold of her for any insights?"

Shepard let loose an obnoxious snort, "Nope! Liara's holed up at some Prothean dig site with Javik. Again. Honestly, I wouldn't be surprised if she proved the expression 'Married to her work.'" She rolled her eyes. "According to her publisher, despite the fact she's got a living, breathing Prothean to verify the facts, Liara's still got 'quite a bit of research to do' if she's going to put out that book on Protheans. And I'm sure Javik wanted an excuse to see what was left of his people. Or to be with Liara. Not sure which. So naturally we couldn't get a hold of either of them."

"What's the plan then? Just march in and start interrogating mercenaries in the bars? Don't suppose you've got some old vigilante buddies still kicking there?" Vega asked in a tone that made Garrus wonder if the Alliance soldier was serious. "What about that Sidonis guy?"

Ignoring the curious glance Shepard gave him, he straightened his stance and cleared his throat, "I had some contacts on Omega back during my Archangel days. I'm going to track some of them down, but I'm not going to hold my breath. Since my Archangel days Omega's had a plague, numerous gang uprisings, and then there was that Cerberus occupation…" Garrus' mandibles flared as he looked at Shepard and mused, "I still don't know how they managed to liberate Omega from Cerberus. I heard that Petrovsky guy had one hell of military operation going. I guess Aria was pissed enough about someone else sitting on her throne in Afterlife…"

Garrus was surprised when Shepard didn't even smile at the comment; rather she avoided his gaze to mess with the thermal clip in her pistol. Before he could inquire about her sudden shift in mood, she spoke up, "Maybe we should approach Aria."

He stiffened at the mention of dealing with the self-proclaimed Queen of Omega. Garrus wasn't entirely averse to the idea of dealing with devils; he understood that sometimes you had to play them at their own games to get a decent foothold on their turf. But he hated dealing with Aria t'Loak, something he'd made clear to Shepard when they were working with Cerberus to stop the Collectors. The asari was ruthless and self-serving; she'd get what she wanted regardless of who she ran roughshod over to get it. He'd only relented at the time because the galaxy was at stake and the asari was willing to part with the intel no strings attached… strings he was aware of at any rate. "I'd rather not-"

Before he could protest the idea, Shepard cut in again, "We're gonna have to. She kept a close eye on the mercs when Archangel was wreaking havoc. She'll probably know something about who's got a beef with you. Besides, she owes me a favor…"

"A favor? For what?" Garrus asked abruptly, unaware Shepard had even made contact with the asari since they'd run with Cerberus. As far as he'd known, Aria and Shepard had no debts or favors toward one another. The two of them were usually quick to repay debts before any interest built up. When Shepard had helped Aria with the merc gangs, Aria gave her intel on Mordin and permission to enter the plague zone. When Shepard dealt with assassins that were after Patriarch, Aria had given her coordinates to some world with a valuable cache on it. "We haven't seen Aria since our Cerberus days."

Shepard was about to say something when Joker cut in, his hands expertly flying over the haptic interface before him, "We're approaching the relay. Brace yourselves." He craned his neck to cast a quick, attentive glance between Shepard and Garrus. "But feel free to continue… not that Ashley and James' couple problems aren't amusing to listen to or anything, but you two have the hot tension of a good drama cooking up. We'll call it 'As the Galaxy Spins'."

Without a word, Shepard gave Garrus a tense expression that said 'We'll discuss it later…' before exiting the cockpit to head for the CIC. Garrus glowered at Joker, who held up his hands, "What? You two chose to start something with an audience present." Ignoring the contrite looks from Ashley and James, Garrus exited the cockpit after Shepard. "Good luck with the assassins!" Joker called after him as the doors to the cockpit slid shut.

"Well that jump was a bit rougher than usual." Ashley commented loudly to break the strained silence that had overcome the small group as they departed the Normandy. She rubbed the back of her neck and groaned. "I didn't want to say anything in front of Joker, but either he's lost his touch or we need to get the motion dampeners on the Normandy fixed."

"Could be the relay… those things sustained quite a bit of damage when the Crucible was set off." Garrus stated, stretching out and rolling his shoulders. "They've been doing their best to repair the damage, but…"

"Don't tell me… they just need some calibrating." Shepard joked eagerly, earning grins from both Ashley and James. But Garrus said nothing; instead he gave her an even stare that made her stomach twist into knots. Apparently, he hadn't been happy to hear she'd been in contact with Aria throughout the Reaper War and he was still waiting for her explanation, a matter she most certainly didn't want to touch with a ten-foot pole. Shepard knew he wasn't the biggest fan of Omega's CEO. "Gonna offer your services to the Council, Garrus?" she asked half-heartedly, knowing she was failing to distract the turian with humor. She let out an emphatic sigh, "Look, Garrus…"

"I forgot to ask, what'd you tell Hackett to get us the Normandy?" Ashley boorishly asked Shepard, purposely saving Shepard from what might've been the start of something: a confession, an argument, possibly even a full-blown fight. The group stepped into the dank, dingy hallway that connected the interior of Omega to the Normandy's docking bay and Ashley wrinkled her nose as she surveyed their surroundings. "I'm surprised he let you out of the Human Embassy, much less take humanity's best military asset on a personal mission."

"It's all good! They'll get me back in a few days!" Vega chimed and thumped his chest. "Hoorah!"

"I was talking about the Normandy, Vega." Ashley said in a bored tone. "I doubt they've noticed your absence."

Shepard loudly cleared her throat to return the favor to Ashley, cutting off her and Vega's banter before it escalated into another of their famous couple's arguments. She tore her gaze from Garrus and spoke glibly, trying to cover up her doubt, "Well, now that things have calmed down some since the Reaper War, Hackett was easy to convince… something, something, nice hat… something, something Spectre… something, something, galaxy's savior… I might have promised to attend some irritating military conference too." Shepard let out an exaggerated sigh. "Should've promised my first-born to the Alliance or something. Those conferences are boring!"

"And hunting down lunatics out to kill your husband is exciting?" Vega asked dubiously. "Sometimes your guys' relationship scares me, you know that?"

"Me too." Shepard heard Garrus mutter from behind her. Before she could ask him what he meant by that, the door at the end of the hallway hissed open and seven well-equipped mercenaries of various species came marching toward them. Garrus, Ashley, and Vega all instinctively drew their weapons, but Shepard raised an arm and stepped in front of them, earning looks of confusion from Ashley and Vega and one of distaste from Garrus. At the head of the welcoming party was a seasoned batarian Shepard recognized as the one batarian on Omega who didn't want her dead. "Aria still got you on crap details, Bray?" she asked facetiously.

The batarian bared his pointed teeth at her in a grin. "Should've known you'd show up, Shepard. You tend to show up just when things start to get interesting on Omega."

Shepard let out a haughty laugh and crossed her arms. "When aren't things interesting on Omega, Bray?"

Bray grunted and looked at Shepard's companions skeptically. "Aria wants to talk with you. Alone. Your companions-"

"Aren't leaving her side." Garrus said coldly, cutting into Bray's sentence. Shepard turned to look at her husband, who stared back at her, waiting for her to either contradict or concur with him. When she didn't do either, he continued, "Tell Aria she can deal with her own problems. We came here for our own reasons.

"That's a pretty bold statement, turian." Bray said patronizingly as a couple of the mercenaries behind him primed their weapons. "Not exactly a wise move though. This is Omega… what Aria says goes-"

Just as Bray finished his sentence, movement further down the hallway caught Shepard's eye. She observed a few armed individuals taking aim toward them and she quickly threw herself up against the wall as gunshots went off, the fired rounds embedding themselves in a couple of Bray's mercs, the floors, the walls, and the ceiling of the hallway. Bray and what few of his mercs who weren't hit dropped to the floor and Ashley, Vega, and Garrus followed Shepard's lead, flattening themselves up against the wall to make themselves less of a target. Shepard removed her assault rifle from its holster on her back and let loose a spray of bullets down the hallway in retaliation. She watched their assailants take cover and took the opportunity to quickly reload some thermal clips. "What the hell is going on now?" Garrus asked, taking up a position next to Shepard while keeping a noticeable distance from her.

Trying not to let that distancing bother her, Shepard gave Garrus a rueful smirk as she sarcastically answered, "Don't know. Wanna ask?" Her smirk faltered when she realized something. "A gunfight this close to Afterlife? I highly doubt Aria would let that go down. Something's up and I'm assuming it has something to do with what Aria wants to talk about…" Shepard cast a knowing glance at Bray on the floor, whose grim expression confirmed her suspicions. "So much for what Aria says…" she sighed as their assailants appeared at the doorway again. "Vega, you're with me. Ashley, Garrus, cover us." she commanded as she used her omni-tool to summon her tech assault armor. She gripped her rifle tightly as she daringly charged on ahead, her heart racing as bullets ricocheted uselessly off her shields. Shepard silently hoped her shield's energy would hold out as she ran the length of the long hallway.

The assailants hadn't anticipated her and Vega charging them and were caught off-guard when they'd closed the distance between them in mere seconds. Shepard ducked the melee attempt of one of the thugs and rammed her shoulder into his gut hard, throwing him off balance so she could aim and shoot him point blank. Some meters to her left she heard Vega give a celebratory whoop, which told her number two was likely taken care of. Confidant two were down, Shepard turned to deal with the third and fourth assailants.

Number three was already aiming to shoot her, but Shepard's reflexes were much faster; she quickly raised her own rifle and pulled the trigger to bury several rounds in his torso before he could even lock on to her. The thug dropped his rifle and fell to the ground, clutching his abdomen; Shepard hurried forward and kicked his rifle out of reach. She habitually popped her own rifle's spent heat sinks before turning to focus her weapon where she'd seen the fourth guy standing.

Unfortunately, he was no longer there and she carefully scanned the area, her eyes tracking and tracing any and all movements to try relocate her target. A single shot went off from behind her then, followed by a whistling noise and a sickening crunch that made her whole body go numb. Shepard slowly turned just as the fourth guy slumped to the floor with a hole in the head and a shocked expression on his face. "Thanks…" she breathed as Garrus jogged up, Bray, Ashley, and the rest of the merc entourage trailing behind.

"I'll always have your six, Shepard." Garrus said quietly and Shepard felt the knots in her stomach loosen up considerably as a safe, comfortable feeling spread through her. She took a moment to give him a warm smile and his cold gaze softened some. He was about to say something else when Bray walked up and interrupted him.

"We need to get to Afterlife before another altercation breaks out. Aria will tell you everything you need to know once we get there." Bray's tone was less casual and more urgent now as he anxiously scanned the unusually empty streets of Omega. The remaining mercs in his group looked perturbed as they too surveyed the area, looking as if they were expecting another fight. "I really could care less if you brought your companions, but it's crucial that you speak with Aria, Shepard."

Shepard looked at the dead assailants on the floor before returning her gaze to the nervous batarian; she was surprised by the Bray's sudden uneasiness regarding a few attackers. Things must've been serious on Omega if Aria was asking for her assistance a second time; asking a favor from the same person twice was like begging for Aria. She then glanced at Garrus, who'd closed himself off again, all prepared to play the compliant peon to her decisive commanding officer. "It's not my call, Bray. We came here to take care of some business of our own…" she said calmly, watching Garrus ease up some.

"Aria knows that." Bray said exasperatedly. He nodded toward Garrus as he said, "She knows you're all here about the hit on the Citadel. And she's willing to tell you what she knows, after you assist her…"

Shepard let out a derisive snort, cutting Bray off. "Assist her? Aria still owes me for the last time I 'assisted' her with Omega." She shook her head and crossed her arms. "It doesn't matter. Whether or not we talk with Aria isn't my call. I'm not running the show this time… Garrus is."

Bray laughed. "You're serious? The great Commander Shepard is taking orders from one of her underlings?" When Shepard didn't answer, he shrugged nonchalantly. "I doubt that arrangement will last long. But if that's how you want to play it, Shepard…" Bray turned toward Garrus. "So how about it, _Archangel_? You gonna make yourself another enemy here on Omega or are you going to approach Aria?"

Garrus crossed his arms and stared down the batarian. "We'll figure this out without Aria's 'help'." He said sternly, turning from Aria's people to head away from Afterlife. "Let's go."


	4. Chapter 4 - Old Friends

Chapter 4 – Old Friends

"The Black Hole Lounge… You know Vega mentioned he used to play cards here before the Reaper War." Ashley commented loudly over the heavy bass of an Expel 10 dance number, though nobody was really paying her any attention. After they'd left Bray and Aria's lackeys, Garrus dragged the squad out to a night club he and his team used to frequent back during his Archangel days. On arrival, James disappeared while he, Ashley, and Shepard took up residence in one of the corner booths that offered a full view of the establishment, a tactical choice Garrus had made of course. He was busy keeping a watchful eye on the crowd when Vega finally appeared with a few bottles of liquor in hand. "Oh good, James is back. I need a drink!" Ashley stated a bit too enthusiastically. "You two have been all tense and broody since we told Shepard's Batarian buddy to fuck off."

Before Garrus could argue with Ashley's statement, Vega quickly set a bottle in front of him. "Turian whiskey for Garrus. Some mescal for me. A beer for Ash. And one ryncol for Shepard!" Vega announced triumphantly as he distributed the bottles of liquor to his armed companions around the table. "Enjoy mi amigos!"

"Ryncol?" Ashley asked skeptically as she gingerly picked up the bottle in front of Shepard to examine it. "You got Shepard ryncol?"

"I was just kidding. It's beer." Vega confessed with a grin as he took a swig of his own bottle. He closed his eyes and swallowed, letting out a sigh of satisfaction before adding, "As dumb as I may seem to people, I don't take all that crap about Shepard being like a Krogan literally."

Intent on shaking Ashley's description of tense and broody, Garrus quipped "Well it's a good thing you didn't get Shepard ryncol. Do you have any idea how many times I found her passed out on the _**men's**_ bathroom floor back when the Dark Star Lounge was open on the Citadel?" Garrus popped the top off his own whiskey bottle. "For days after every shore leave, she'd set off the radiological alarms aboard the Normandy. EDI actually had to establish unique radiologic parameters for Shepard just so the rest of us could get some sleep!"

Vega nearly dropped his beer bottle as he gaped at Shepard, who was staring absentmindedly out over the bar crowd. "Wait… Shepard can stomach ryncol?"

Garrus chuckled at the Alliance soldier's reaction. "Stomach might not be the best term for it… Tolerate isn't a good word either considering it's the one drink I'm aware of that will make her pass out. That hasn't stopped her from trying, however." he joked, glancing toward Shepard, who still wasn't paying their discussion any heed. "Shepard?"

Shepard snapped out of her thoughts and focused on Garrus. "Yeah?"

"You alright?" Garrus asked, trying to spot for himself what Shepard had been fixated on. He saw patrons of all species seated at tables and standing in small groups throughout the lounge, nursing their drinks and quietly talking amongst themselves. The barkeep was mindlessly wiping at the bar with a towel as he tended to a couple of human customers. A Krogan bouncer stalked through the crowd eyeing certain mercs and thugs as if daring them to try start something. From what Garrus could tell, nobody really stood out; it was a typical bar scene as far as he was concerned. "You see something?"

Shepard frowned and glanced back at the bar scene. "Omega's people are on edge. Something's not right here, Garrus."

Garrus surveyed the bar scene again and concluded Shepard was right. The patrons were all tense; not a single soul was dancing, nobody was getting drunk off their ass, no fights were breaking out, the female and asari entertainment wasn't getting much attention… Back in his Archangel days the Black Hole was usually jumping with activity; he could safely say the lounge once rivaled the Afterlife bar for rowdiest club spot on Omega. But looking at it now… "You think this might have something to do with what Aria wanted from you?" he asked, knowing full well his wife was hung up on the fact they weren't going to Aria for information.

Shepard stared down at the unopened beer bottle before her, her expression unreadable. "I dunno Garrus. I just know I've been on Omega enough to know what normal is. This…" she tilted her head toward the bar scene, "This isn't typical Omega."

"I suppose you would know a thing or two about Omega, considering you and Omega's queen seem to be great friends." Garrus said with an air of petulance before taking a gulp of his whiskey. Once again, he was baiting Shepard, but her familiarity with Aria and Omega scared him as much as it irritated him. And she still hadn't explained why Aria owed her, though he was pretty damned sure it had something to do with breaking the Cerberus occupation during the Reaper War. "Regretting not joining up with her again?" he asked with a bluntness one usually ascribed to Krogan. Apparently, his time spent with Wrex and Grunt had finally taken its toll.

"Garrus…" Shepard sighed and leaned back in the booth. "You wanna know what happened between me and Aria? Cerberus happened. They had control of Omega. Aria had a plan to liberate it from Cerberus. She needed my help and made me an offer for resources the Alliance desperately needed to win the Reaper War. Eezo, mercs, ships… She'd made the offer right after the Cerberus Coup. I wasn't really in a position to turn down her request."

"But why keep it secret? Why didn't you ask any of us to go with you? Why not ask me?" Garrus leaned in toward Shepard, ignoring the fact that their conversation was probably making Ashley and Vega uncomfortable. This discussion had to go down sometime and now was as good as any as far as he was concerned. "Didn't you trust me?"

Shepard looked offended by the question. "Garrus, I trust you more than anyone else in this galaxy. Truth is, you know more about me than any other person I know, which is a triumph if you ask any my previous relationships." She wrinkled her nose and smirked. "Never mind, don't ask them… I seriously had shitty taste in boyfriends before you… Besides! You made it quite clear on numerous occasions that you weren't a fan of Aria or Omega. I thought I'd spare you…"

"Shepard…" Garrus stated flatly, ignoring her attempts at flattery and evasion. "Why?"

She met his gaze head on then, "Aria needed my help. She said she didn't trust anyone else. Hell, she barely trusted me with the mission as it was. The only reason she asked was because I get results. I had to go alone or not at all." Shepard reached over and grasped Garrus' hand. "Garrus, it doesn't matter now. The Reaper War is over. Everything I had to do to bring it to an end is in the past. I'm ready to move forward with _our_ life together. Are you?"

Feeling guilty about his petulance and jealousy, Garrus decided Shepard was right, as usual. The Reapers were gone, the war was over and the two of them were damned close to retiring and focusing on being with one another. Hell, he was the reason they were back on Omega at all. Before he could respond to Shepard's query, their peanut gallery cut in. "Not until the assholes trying to kill him are dealt with." Vega let out a belch. "Excuse me."

"You know, there once was a time you wouldn't have dared to do something like that in front of people." Ashley grumbled. "I have no idea where your manners and sense of propriety went."

"I said excuse me! And the fact I'm comfortable enough to do things like that around you says something! That I trust you and, well, I'm comfortable around you!" Vega exclaimed, kicking up and settling his feet on the table as if to emphasize his point.

"Oh crap. You're not gonna start walking around the Normandy without pants, are you?" Ashley asked in horror, her brown eyes wide. "I mean it's okay when it's just us back at our apartment, but I don't think Garrus and Shepard would appreciate the view as much as I do!"

Vega waggled his eyebrows, then. "So, you do appreciate the view, LC?"

Shepard rolled her eyes and pulled back from Garrus, their moment ruined. "You mentioned something about having contacts here on Omega." she stated coolly, suddenly back to business.

Garrus leaned back as well, disappointed in himself for not giving Shepard an answer and perturbed by idea of Vega walking around without pants. "Yeah… I had a few people giving me some useful intel and tips while I was doing work here on Omega. I looked up my more reliable contacts, people whose information I know is good. Turns out a lot of them aren't around anymore though."

"Anybody I know?" Shepard asked, taking a sip of her beer.

"Well you knew the salarians Ish and Sel. Unfortunately, someone convinced Ish that the intel business was bad for his health." Garrus gave Shepard a pointed look before continuing, "Anto Karragan used to sell me intel on occasion, but word is he died in a firefight during the Cerberus occupation. A smuggler by the name of Vetra Nyx was reliable up until she joined some Andromeda Initiative and skipped the galaxy in 2185. When those sources didn't work out I had to reach out to an old friend."

An unexpected gasp from Ashley made Garrus jump. "And the plot thickens! 'Old friend' for you and Shepard is usually code-speak for ex-lover…" the Spectre teased, playfully elbowing Shepard, who didn't appear quite as amused by the insinuation.

"Yeah… I remember Shepard once referred to you as an 'old friend' when we were headed for Menae." Vega pointed out with a grin. "So, what's her name?"

Taken aback by their suggestions, Garrus found it hard to explain himself. "Aderia and I… It's not like that… we aren't… Why'd we bring you two again?" He glowered at the dynamic duo, who high-fived as though they'd hit the bullseye. Ironically, Garrus couldn't exactly deny that they had.

"You couldn't get a hold of anybody else, remember?" Ashley pointed out. "Aderia… Sounds like a woman's name. So, we are talking about a her. Could be turian or asari…"

"Wait. We're talking to one of your ex-girlfriends?" Shepard asked slowly as she eyed Garrus, maintaining an unreadable expression she usually reserved for diplomats and poker games. "Aderia who?"

"Aderia Tectus. She and I… we..." Garrus found himself stumbling over his words as he tried describing what it was he and Aderia had. It didn't help that Shepard had completely closed herself off, so he had nothing to gauge his attempts by other than the bemused, curious looks Ashley and Vega were giving him. Finally, he gave up on explaining his relationship with Aderia and focused instead on why he chose to contact her, hoping that would be enough of an explanation for his wife. "Aderia had a quiet operation running here on Omega during my Archangel days. I checked it out and Aderia's still working here on Omega. Her intel is good. Always has been. I didn't really have a whole lot of options otherwise, Shepard."

A snort sounded from Vega. "And here I thought we were avoiding getting intel from 'old friends'." he commented snidely to Ashley. "Would it honestly have made a difference if we'd gone to Aria?"

"Are you two finished?" Garrus asked exasperatedly, using every ounce of his willpower to keep from decking Vega. "Shepard, I'll be more than willing to talk about it when there aren't children present." Garrus turned toward Shepard, but for the second time that night he realized she wasn't listening to him. "Shepard?"

"Speaking of old friends…" Shepard muttered, setting her beer down on the table and rising to her feet. "You're not going to believe who just walked into the bar."

"An elcor, a volus, and a vorcha… I think everyone's heard that one Shepard." Vega answered in a bored tone.

Shepard ignored Vega's remark and took off into the crowd. Garrus got to his own feet and followed her, Vega and Ashley right behind him. "Don't tell me she caught sight of her own ex-lover." Ashley feigned annoyance, "How much more interesting can this mission get?"

Garrus chose to disregard Ashley's comment and instead focused on where it was Shepard was headed. She led them past the crowds of patrons to the back of the bar where there were a few glass-walled, semi-private rooms. Shepard stepped through the entrance of one of them before coming to a stop, her gaze fixated on the lone individual standing at the center of the room. When Garrus caught sight of who it was Shepard had spotted, he too stopped in his tracks. "Sidonis…" Shepard said quietly, her voice somehow filling the room. The turian turned and faced them, looking surprised by their sudden approach as Shepard asked, "What the hell are you doing here?"

Garrus' own shock quickly subsided and an unrestrained rage filled him then. He lunged at the turian he once called comrade. Shepard roughly grabbed his arm before he could make contact and with a surprising amount of strength, she managed to drag Garrus back. "You sorry son of a bitch…" Garrus swore, yanking his arm out of Shepard's grip to take a menacing step toward Sidonis. Sidonis stood his ground and stared him down; he appeared unperturbed by Garrus' rage, but Garrus could see the guilt and uncertainty in the turian's eyes. "How many more people in my life have to die so you can save your own hide?"

Sidonis stared at Garrus hard. "It wasn't my intention to cross paths with you again, Garrus. I'm not sure what is going on here…"

"What's going on here? Four years ago, ten good men died because you were afraid for yourself! And now they're threatening my father, my sister, my wife!" Garrus clenched his fists, holding off the urge to grab his gun and shoot Sidonis right there. "I should've killed you when I had the chance."

Shepard stepped up next to Garrus, no doubt to intervene again if he made another attempt to attack Sidonis. "Did that second chance not pan out or what? Cause it's looking a lot like you've got a death wish or something." she quipped nonchalantly, crossing her arms and eyeing Sidonis. "Last we heard, you were being tortured for information by a group of ruthless 'bounty hunters' intent on putting an end to Archangel. "

Sidonis glanced confusedly between Garrus and Shepard. "Bounty hunters? Torture? I have no idea what you're talking about. I came here to negotiate with some mercenaries on behalf of Aderia Tectus."

Garrus' rage subsided some. "Aderia? You're working with her now?"

"Mercenaries? Negotiate?" Shepard uncrossed her arms and glanced at Garrus. "We're not mercenaries for hire and we're most certainly not here to negotiate. We're here for intel on…" she frowned at Sidonis. "Garrus, somebody was working pretty damned hard to draw you here. If Sidonis is here, unharmed, then we just fell for that somebody's bluff…" Shepard turned her gaze back to Garrus and Garrus saw her eyes widen just before she unexpectedly tackled him to the floor yelling "Sniper!"

The glass walls of the room exploded above them and Garrus heard the bar beyond erupt into chaos. Gunfire and appreciative shouts sounded from beyond the shattered glass walls as the mercs and criminals took advantage of the bar's break in tension to start up a barfight. Vega and Sidonis had both hit the deck and were scrambling to regain their bearings. Ashley had taken cover behind a worn, leather couch and was priming her rifle while trying to identify where the sniper had shot from, something Garrus probably should've been doing as well. But Garrus' focus was on Shepard, who was lying on top of him, her face some mere centimeters from his. The weight of her armored form on top of his was familiar and arousing; oddly enough it brought up memories from the Reaper War, when surviving harrowing firefights usually ended up with the two of them 'working off stress' together in Shepard's quarters aboard the Normandy. He swallowed hard when her worried eyes met his. "Are you okay? Were you hit?"

"I-I… No. I'm good." He stuttered, fighting the urge to kiss her then and there. "You?"

Before Shepard could answer, Ashley loudly exclaimed "That right there is why people think you and Garrus can't get it on unless you're in dire circumstances!" She cocked her gun and once again peered through the scope. "I can't spot the shooter."

To Garrus' chagrin and relief, Shepard rolled off him and crawled over to Ashley's side, peering out of the ruined room at the madness taking place in the bar. "The chaos should be good enough cover… we could try sneaking out a back entrance."

"Or the shooter's got friends set up at any and all exits waiting for us to attempt an escape." Vega suggested, reaching down to help Garrus up into a crouching position. "We need a plan and we need it now, Shep- I mean Scars." he corrected himself.

Garrus hummed discontentedly. He couldn't exactly blame Vega for looking to Shepard. The situation Garrus had just gotten them into wasn't looking good. Whoever wanted him dead was more than likely prepared to deal with his friends this time around. Plus, they didn't have Sidonis, they knew who he was and with whom he was associated with, and it was apparent they had him right where they wanted him… Shepard was right. Whoever it was seemed to be playing with him. "I don't suppose anyone's got any other exit strategies?" he asked, looking at Shepard resignedly.

Shepard stared back at him for several seconds, apparently giving him a chance to recant before she took command of the situation, "We're sitting ducks here… we've gotta take a chance with the crowd. I think I know of one way where we won't be out in the open for long… Just keep close and try not to get caught up in the fighting." She quickly rose and ran into the fighting, ducking a thrown barstool and a skirting around couple of human mercs wrestling on and around a table.

"Oh, this should be fun…" Ash gripped her rifle and charged after Shepard. Vega shrugged and followed Ash, leaving Sidonis and Garrus in the ruined semi-private room. Sidonis motioned toward the chaos for Garrus to go first. Garrus resisted the urge to take another swing at the turian and followed his friends into the madness.

Once amidst the fighting, Garrus realized that the sniper would have a hell of a time getting a clean shot with all the commotion. The barfight had quickly escalated into an Omega classic… the brawls were spreading like wildfire beyond the bar and into the alleys and streets outside. Everyone was getting involved: the mercs, the bouncers, even the bartender and the asari/female entertainment were all participating. Garrus had forgotten how widespread a fight on Omega could get, but Shepard appeared to be having no trouble navigating any of it as she flitted through the crowds. As much as Garrus wanted to have a problem with it, it was Shepard's familiarity that was saving their asses; in that moment, he decided to drop the issue, at least until their mission on Omega was done. After that the two of them needed to have a talk.

Shepard somehow managed to lead them out of the bar and past several other street fights without incident, though both Garrus and Ashley had to intervene to keep Vega out of a few scuffles. Garrus kept glancing around them, half expecting a bullet to come out of nowhere and nail one of them now that they were out of the more crowded confines of the Black Hole, but Shepard kept them moving and no shots were fired. He figured they were in the clear until he noticed several familiar, burly mercs during a few of his glance-backs. It was apparent the lot was stalking them; that combined with the fact they were dressed similarly to the mercs from the Citadel and one of them was carrying a sniper rifle told Garrus they weren't simply looking to participate in the Omega classic. "Shit…" Garrus muttered.

"What is it?" Sidonis asked, catching up with Garrus' stride.

"We're being followed." Garrus stated just loud enough for the others ahead to hear as well. He looked forward at Shepard's moving form, "Shepard, we need to lose them."

"I saw them. Don't worry, I'm on it." Shepard stated with confidence and Garrus couldn't help but feel a sense of relief. They all filed in closer and she led them across the avenue to a long alley with no apparent exits. Shepard picked up the pace then, quickly leading them down the alley to a stairwell at its end. Garrus glanced back in time to see their stalkers turn the corner into the alley before he followed the others down the stairs. He figured the stairs must've led to a sub level or another alleyway leading to another of Omega's wards. Instead it led into some kind of old storage space with no exits: a dead end. "Pretty sure this was the right alley…" Shepard muttered, kicking aside some old boxes and inspecting the cracking back wall.

"I thought you said you were on it, Shepard! Damn it!" Garrus swore, backing up the flight of steps to see if their stalkers were still in pursuit. Sure enough, the mercs had weapons in hand and were making their way along the back alley toward the stairwell. "Shepard."

Shepard ignored him as she ran her hands along the wall that blocked their path; somehow, she appeared unperturbed by the fact a group of armed mercs were right on their heels. Garrus watched as her hand slid into a small crevice and he heard a heavy click beneath their feet. One of the floor tiles popped up and Vega quickly knelt to swing it open. "It's a hatch!" he reported, glancing up at Shepard as if looking for confirmation.

"Get in! Hurry!" Shepard urged, grabbing hold of the door and motioning for them all to go through. "Move it people!"

One by one they dropped through the hidden exit, climbing down a rusted ladder into a dark, damp tunnel until only Shepard was left above. Garrus glanced up and caught sight of her standing over the open hatch, her attention focused in the direction of the stairwell. "Shepard! Let's go!" Garrus called anxiously, praying to the spirits that this wasn't about to be one of her unpredictable, martyr moments. He gripped the ladder as he stared up at her, struggling against the urge to just climb up and drag her ass down. Just as he began remounting the ladder, shouts sounded off from above and gunfire went off. "Damn it, Shepard!"

Garrus watched Shepard quickly yank the hatch door closed after she finally scrambled down onto the ladder; he jumped in surprise when she slammed an archaic-looking, but effective locking mechanism into place. "Well, we've lost them… unless one of those bastards has a heavy-duty blow torch handy." she commented flippantly before sliding the rest of the way down the ladder to land with a thud next to Garrus. She gave him a casual smile when he glowered at her. "Even then we'd have a good ten minutes before they got through that door. But considering our bipolar luck thus far, I'm thinking we should probably keep moving just to be safe." Shepard then summoned her omni-tool and the tunnel lit up with an ominous orange glow. She turned from Garrus to look at Sidonis, who stood a couple of meters apart from the rest of them. "Okay, Sidonis… how about you lead us 'mercs' to Aderia Tectus so we can 'negotiate' in person?"


	5. Chapter 5 - It's Not a Set-Up

Chapter 5 – It's Not a Set-Up

'Aderia Tectus.' Shepard sat musing over the name as she leaned up against a wall with her arms crossed. Once she'd gotten them out of the tunnels, Sidonis suggested they wait up for Aderia at his apartment, a place he assured them they'd be safe. Shepard was more than willing to give the private apartment a shot, considering their luck with public locales up to that point. Garrus hadn't been keen on the idea, but he wasn't able to provide any other options for them to regroup. So the lot of them made their way to the residence without incident and now sat waiting for their mysterious intel source.

'Aderia Tectus…' Shepard mused again. It certainly wasn't a familiar name for Shepard; when she'd said the name aloud to herself, it had little meaning. But when Garrus said the name… Shepard glanced up to observe her husband anxiously stalk the length of the apartment for what had to be the hundredth time since they'd arrived. "Just let me know when you hit eezo…" Shepard commented.

Garrus stopped mid-step and stared at her, "What?"

"She means 'would you stop pacing the place before you make an unwanted sublevel?'" Vega offered from where he sat playing with his rifle on a worn-looking leather couch. "You're making me nervous, and I don't get nervous."

Ashley let out a mocking laugh from where she was perched at the kitchen island. "Right!"

"I don't!" Vega stated defensively.

"You were practically tripping over yourself when I brought you meet my mother." Ashley began, appearing smug and ready to recount the tale. Lucky for Vega, Sidonis had finally decided to break his silence and update them on the situation with his boss.

"Aderia will be here soon… she was caught up working on something on the other side of Omega." Sidonis said loudly. He'd been leaning against the wall next to the door since they'd arrived, whether to serve as lookout or to have a quick escape route handy, Shepard wasn't sure. "It won't be much longer, trust me."

Shepard observed Garrus give Sidonis a baleful stare before continuing his trek and muttering something that sounded suspiciously like, 'Should've gone to Aria.'

While everyone else seemed content to allow the tense silence settle back in, Ashley apparently had other plans. "Okay… let's play a game! Eye spy with my little eye…"

"Is it the neon lighting?" Vega asked in a bored tone, his answer cutting Ashley off before she could finish. "It's the neon lighting, isn't it?"

"No." Ashley said, sounding irritated by Vega's impertinence. "I didn't even finish…"

"The shuttles passing by?" Vega tried again, sounding a bit more interested being the game was proving to be a challenge. "No! No, wait…" he held up his assault rifle, "It's my rifle."

"No, James, it's not your damned rifle." Ashley crossed her arms indignantly, "Will you let me- "

"Is it-" Vega's brows knit as he struggled to identify something else in the apartment. "Could it be-"

But Shepard was already tired of listening to their game. "It's the faded blood stain on the carpet over there." she stated in annoyance, confident in her answer as she'd observed Ashley eye the stain when they'd first arrived at the apartment. "Game over."

Ashley raised an eyebrow at Shepard, "Yep… Okay I don't know if that says something about me for spying it or you for pointing it out."

"Humans are strange." Sidonis' metallic tone rang as he voiced his opinion. He frowned at the bloodstain on the carpet, ostensibly self-conscious about their observation, "I swear that was there when I bought the place."

Garrus abruptly ceased his pacing and faced Shepard. "Alright! You won! Let's go to Aria."

"Of course I won! Wait, what exactly did I win here? Are we still talking about Eye-Spy?" Shepard uncrossed her arms and pushed off the wall to close the distance between her and her husband. "Look Garrus, I know this isn't exactly what you were expecting, but you need to calm down."

"Well excuse me for being on edge." Garrus snapped, at Shepard, causing her to take a step back from him. "If you aren't nervous about this whole affair, then maybe you should be. The last time I met up with Sidonis anywhere, three merc groups got together and slaughtered my entire squad." He stated bitterly, "For all you know this is some elaborate set-up of his to save his own hide."

"First off, not very elaborate. I mean, I'm still here aren't I? Second, I'm not setting you up." Sidonis said carefully, finally glancing up from his omni-tool to defend himself. He held out his omni-tool toward Garrus. "There's the message. Aderia will be here soon."

"Why are you even working with her? Doesn't she know you set us up?" Garrus asked, turning his ire on Sidonis then.

"She knows. I told her everything." Sidonis said quietly, contritely averting his gaze. "She took me on anyway."

Hearing what Sidonis said made Shepard pause and blink at the turian in surprise. "Then why would she send you to negotiate with us if she knew about what happened between you and Garrus?" she asked, suddenly unsure about the turian woman's intentions.

Sidonis shrugged nonchalantly, "I'm not sure. Maybe I was the only person available in this part of Omega?"

"Uh-huh." Shepard shared a glance with Garrus. "Sounds like some kind of set-up to me."

"So what? This Aderia woman is trying to make Garrus play nice with his traitorous ex-comrade?" Ashley chimed from behind the group. Shepard turned to find Ashley had joined James on the couch. "Why would she do something like that? What could she possibly gain from it?"

Garrus shook his head, then stared off into space. "I don't know. She always was unpredictable."

"What does this Aderia woman even do?"' Shepard asked then, dissatisfied by how both Garrus and Sidonis had been dancing around a proper description of their would-be informant. "You haven't said much beyond 'She can get us the intel.' Is she an information broker of sorts?"

"Aderia performs wide array of services. Mostly smuggling and intel. While her methods aren't necessarily 'legitimate', her focus has always been to provide her services to benefit the people of Omega. It's why she worked with us." Sidonis answered before letting out a cough in response to Garrus' dark stare. "She'll help you out, I'm sure of it."

"Yeah, and what will her help cost us? I seem to recall you using the word 'negotiate'." Shepard pointed out.

"She's been having some trouble with the Blood Pack. I think she was hoping Garrus would help her out by taking out the leader." Sidonis explained.

Garrus shook his head again. "No, I don't do that anymore. I'm not here to relive the glory days of Archangel. I'm just here to settle things and go home. Besides, she owes me for that time we saved that shipment of hers…"

"You'll have to take it up with her." Sidonis said with another shrug. "I was sent to give you the terms. Intel for the Blood Pack boss."

Garrus scoffed in frustration and turned from Shepard and Sidonis to stalk toward the far corner of the room. Sidonis resignedly looked at Shepard with an expression that said 'Can you talk to him?', before returning his attentions to the omni-tool interface on his wrist. Shepard glanced at both Ashley and Vega who were pointlessly pretending they were preoccupied and not listening to the whole exchange. She exhaled exasperatedly before going after her husband.

"Talk to me, Garrus." Shepard said softly, leaning up against the wall next to him. As she gazed at him she noticed how grizzled he looked, how much more prominent his faded scars appeared, how dull his piercing blue eyes were; the events of the past few days were quickly taking their toll. "I hate seeing you like this."

Garrus glanced over at her. "I'm sorry. I'm trying to keep a… I don't know if you'd call it a positive attitude. Level head, maybe? I'm trying to keep it together, but I just-" he let out an exasperated groan, "Why can't things just go right? It seems every time I take charge, shit falls apart. Nothing ever seems to go right for me…"

"You've survived a rocket to the face, lived through one of the galaxy's worst wars, and married one of the sexiest human women alive, and nothing has gone right for you?" Shepard teased. When her tease didn't elicit even the slightest chuckle Shepard sighed, "Come on, Garrus. Things aren't exactly going right, but they most certainly aren't going wrong either." She gave him a wry smile. "I mean, there's been three attempts on our lives now and we're still alive. Whoever's got a grudge is probably getting frustrated as hell, meaning they'll be more likely to make a mistake. And when they make that mistake, we'll be there."

"Right." Garrus said, but the look in his eyes said he wasn't convinced.

Shepard reached up and cupped the side of his face to turn his gaze on her. "Trust me, Garrus. You don't have to trust Sidonis, or Aria, or even Aderia. When I say we're gonna get through this, we're gonna get through this." She dropped her hand. "Half your issue is lack of patience. It's only been a few days since all this started. But I get it. You think this whole mess is your fault and you want it fixed right away. Fact is, it's not your fault and we'll take care of it the moment we're sure of everything. Ok?"

"Ok." Garrus said flatly.

"I'm losing my touch." Shepard dropped her hand and glanced away from her husband, looking for a different approach. "Tell me about Aderia." She finally said, wondering if the name was enough to distract Garrus from his persistent worrying. "Don't worry, I won't get all jealous that she's your ex-girlfriend." she teased.

The gambit paid off; Shepard watched Garrus get all flustered like he did back at the Black Hole Lounge. "She's not my ex-girlfriend. The two of us were never an item. If anything, she'd be considered an ex-lover… we only ever had a one-night-stand." Garrus let out a nervous cough and Shepard could've sworn she saw a blush rise in his chiseled features. "Now that I think about it, I've already told you what little there was to tell."

"You did? When?" Shepard thought back to all her conversations with Garrus. As far as she knew, he'd never named any of his past flings. He'd only ever confessed to one encounter in all the years the two of them had been together… "Wait just a minute…" Shepard let out a laugh. "Aderia was the scout. From the story you told me. The story that was basically the reason you and I got together."

"Shepard, it's not funny." Garrus stated, but his declaration did little to stop Shepard from having another laughing fit.

"It's hilarious." Shepard said with a wide grin. "This is the woman who inspired our favorite euphemism!" From across the room Vega and Ash glanced up from what appeared to be a game of rock-paper-scissors. Sidonis also cast them a curious glance from where he stood guarding the door once more. "Reach and flexibility… now I've definitely got to meet this woman!"

Garrus let out an embarrassed groan. "I knew telling you was a mistake." But as Garrus returned his gaze to Shepard, she could tell he was feeling less frustrated already. "Please don't say anything that would… maybe I should just do the talking."

"Oh, but Garrus! I've got so many questions!" Shepard smirked at Garrus' dismay. "I mean there was 'something' about that encounter that left an impression on you. I'm really curious about…"

"Shepard, no." Garrus said sternly. He left the wall and wrapped his right arm about Shepard's waist to pull her close. "Besides, she never left quite the impression you did, Commander." He murmured softly, pressing his forehead to hers. Shepard swallowed her teasing as her heart rate rose and warmth rose in her cheeks. Garrus leaned down and nuzzled the side of Shepard's neck, his breath warm against her exposed skin as he spoke, "You're right, as always. I'm just nervous… anxious for all this madness to be over with so the two of us can get back to our lives." He pulled back and looked down at Shepard. "What bothers me the most about all of this though, is how they hurt you and I was unable to stop them."

Reaching up to stroke the scarred side of his face again, Shepard gave Garrus a sympathetic look. "It's going to be alright. We're going to be alright. Garrus, I'm alright." She dropped her hand and patted his chest reassuringly. "Besides, 'I'm hard to kill! You should know that.'" She said facetiously.

"You never let me live anything I say down." Garrus grumbled, but Shepard could see a brighter mirth in her Turian's eyes again.

"'Til Chakwas do us part, dear." Shepard smiled when Garrus chuckled.

A low, seductive voice cut into their banter then, prompting Shepard and Garrus to pull apart from one another and face the armored individual approaching them from across the room. "Well, well… look who's back in the vigilante game." Drawled the female Turian, who was eyeing the two of them with obvious amusement. She shifted her gaze from the both of them to focus on Garrus and give him a nod. "It's good to see you again, Garrus."

Shepard glanced at Garrus, who was apparently put off by the appearance of the Turian woman. Taking it upon herself to cover for her suddenly and frustratingly dumbstruck husband, Shepard cleared her throat and took a step to close the distance between herself and the turian woman. "You must be Aderia Tectus. I'm Commander Shepard. It's a pleasure to finally meet you, though I'm sure the circumstances could have been more ideal." Shepard held out her hand.

The turian woman's expression was unreadable as stared at Shepard's proffered hand for several seconds before she eventually gripped it and gave it a brief, firm shake. "I see Garrus has already mentioned me. Good." Aderia sounded pleased, purposely looking past Shepard to meet Garrus' stare. "Shall we get straight to business, Garrus?"

Garrus let out a nervous cough and rubbed the back of his neck, and Shepard couldn't help feeling irked by his unanticipated awkward fumbling. He finally averted his gaze from both Shepard and Aderia and strode past them to head toward the living room. "Yeah. The sooner this mess is dealt with, the better."

"Of course." Aderia gave Shepard a curious look Shepard could've swore was a sneer. She turned to follow Garrus, leaving Shepard to stare after then two Turians.

"That's the understatement of the century, Vakarian." Shepard muttered to herself before she too followed the Turians to the living room.


	6. Chapter 6 - No Vakarian Without Shepard

Chapter 6 – No Vakarian Without Shepard

"Your message offered little insight into your situation. Care to elaborate, Garrus?" Aderia asked as she casually seated herself on the couch across from where James and Ashley were seated. James was focused on Aderia, but Ashley glanced up at Shepard with a curious look. Shepard reciprocated with a stern look of her own before crossing her arms and standing next to Garrus, facing their Turian informant. "A random group of mercenaries of unknown affiliation just showed up on the Citadel and attempted to take you out? To what end?"

"We're not sure. The group was aware of my identity as Archangel and they threatened people I'm close to." Garrus was trying to sound formal and composed, but Shepard could still sense he was anxious about Aderia. "There were ten of them. Well-armed and trained. Caught me, Shepard, Williams and Vega at a restaurant. We took them out, but there were injuries." Garrus glanced sheepishly at Shepard and Shepard returned a strained smile; that most certainly wasn't something Aderia needed to know about. "The surviving thugs didn't reveal much except that their contact met them on Omega. That plus the reference to Archangel told us Omega was the place to look for answers."

"And your little posse was shot at on the way into Omega as well." Aderia added, sounding nonchalant.

"We don't think that's related." Shepard said, choosing to keep her surprise regarding Aderia's knowledge to herself; Aderia was an informant after all, why wouldn't she know about what was going on here on Omega? "That incident seems to have something to do with Aria t'Loak. It's likely they were targeting her henchman Bray, whom Aria dispatched to recruit us on arrival."

The turian woman nodded slowly, "Perhaps. Bray is one of Aria's most trusted lieutenants. But then there was your little incident at the Black Hole lounge. That could have been an attempt on Archangel. Then again maybe they were targeting one of Aria's key allies… or possibly one of her would-be enemies." Aderia mused, her bright gold eyes scanning Shepard almost hungrily. "Everyone knows Aria would never have retaken Omega from Cerberus without your help, Commander. And considering the recent troubles she's been having retaining control of the station…"

Shepard bristled. Why the hell was everyone bringing that up? "I did what I had to during the Reaper War. As for what Aria has going on now…" Shepard shifted uncomfortably under Garrus' dark stare "Aria's troubles are not our concern. We're here to deal with Garrus' would-be assassins. Garrus seems to trust you and your intel." Shepard nodded toward Sidonis then. "But considering how you're testing his patience, I'm wondering if this little excursion was really worth the trouble."

Aderia chuckled as if she were listening to a child say something amusing. "Your little wife is a bold one, I'll give her that." She moved from her lounging position to clasp her taloned hands before her, motioning toward Sidonis at the door with a slight tilt of her head. "I didn't send Sidonis to meet with you, Garrus. He was supposed to be meeting up with another group of mercenaries I was hiring to deal with a group of Blood Pack thugs down in the Kima district. Things have gotten pretty messy here on Omega since Aria lost control of the Talons."

Shepard blinked in surprise, "Aria lost control of the Talons? How?"

"No one's sure. One minute Aria was commanding them in the efforts to restore _her_ Omega, the next they were apparently taking orders from someone else. They just started attacking Aria's people. It's escalated into war in the streets, people get caught in the skirmishes everyday… Kandros would've flipped a mandible if she were still here." Aderia's mandibles set into the turian version of a grimace, "The Talons claim the Liberator will free Omega of Aria's tyranny. I have my people doing what they can for the civilians, but it's far from enough."

"The Liberator? Sounds like some disgruntled rebel who's not too fond of Aria's regime." Ashley stated, finally speaking up from her place on the sofa. "You know anything about them?"

"All anybody knows is that they wrested control of the Talons from Aria and they intend on putting an end to her once and for all." Aderia shook her head, a curious look of regret flashing in her golden eyes. "The Liberator killed Aria's Patriarch. It was a clear enough message to Omega's queen: she's next."

"The Patriarch? Shit…" Shepard swore, running a gloved hand through her hair as she recalled the aging Krogan Warlord she'd helped a few years back. "If there was anything anyone could do to get to Aria at this point, that was it. This is serious…"

"Aria's been in control for centuries, though. Does this Liberator really think they can take her out after everything she's done to keep her hold on Omega? She kicked Cerberus off the station for crying out loud…" Vega said.

"She's still weak following her war against Cerberus… she wasted a lot of lives and resources to take Omega back." Aderia pointed out. "People are pissed… she doesn't really have the numbers to hold the station. It's a golden opportunity for a revolution on Omega."

Garrus turned toward Shepard. "This is probably what Aria wanted to talk to you about."

Shepard sighed. "Undoubtedly. But that's not why we're here, Garrus." She looked at the turian woman seated on the sofa, "Do you have any intel about the people who attacked Garrus then?"

Aderia stared at Shepard unblinkingly. "I'm afraid not. My focus has been to protect the civilians here to the best of my ability. I've been out of the loop regarding anything beyond that." Before Shepard or Garrus could speak, Aderia stood. "But I can put out feelers. See if any of my own people and contacts have heard anything."

"That sounds like a maybe…" Shepard turned back to face her husband then, knowing he wasn't going to like what she was about to suggest. "Not to knock Aderia's information gathering skills or anything… there's no guarantee her people will turn up anything. Bray made it sound as if Aria actually had something, Garrus."

Garrus snorted. "Yeah, for what price though?" he asked sarcastically, reacting exactly as Shepard expected. "She'll ask you to complete some impossible task to help her in her civil war here on Omega and you know it! Aria's continued rule on Omega isn't something I want to get involved in!"

"At least we know we'll get something! Besides, it's not like Aderia's intel's gonna come cheap." Shepard countered, uncrossing her arms. What was this… the tenth argument they've had since the attack on the Citadel? "I'd rather pay for a sure thing than a maybe."

"Whatever Aderia's asking for will most definitely be a hell of a lot cheaper than whatever Aria will ask for!" Garrus snapped.

Glancing cautiously between the two before stepping forward, Aderia spoke up, "She's right… I'd have to ask for your help Garrus. And it's not cheap… but I'm pretty sure you all can handle it."

Garrus shifted his blue gaze from Shepard to Aderia. "What's your price?" he asked tersely.

"Nothing crazy like taking out Aria or something… but I need that Blood Pack group I mentioned earlier dealt with. I'm pretty confidant my people will have something about the thugs that attacked you by the time you get back." Aderia said, her golden eyes flitting between Garrus and Shepard.

"A whole Blood Pack group? And you're 'pretty confidant' your people can get us our intel?" Shepard scoffed, her gaze never leaving her husband. "I don't like it, Garrus."

"It's still a cheaper favor than whatever Aria would ask." Garrus pointed out.

"For a maybe." Shepard retorted.

Garrus groaned, "Look, Shepard I get that you had to help her during the Reaper War. Better Aria than Cerberus any day. But we don't have to play her games anymore… and it sounds like these civilians need our help. I'd rather deal with a maybe if it means helping someone over dealing with an absolute and hurting someone."

Shepard sighed and threw up her hands. "Fine. Your mission, your call. You've heard my opinion."

"Pretty sure the Keepers on the Citadel heard your opinion…" Garrus muttered, and Shepard gave him a don't-test-me stare. He let out a nervous cough, "We'll help you out, Aderia… just tell us what you need."

Aderia smiled. "Excellent."

* * *

"We're seriously going to help Garrus' ex?" Ashely asked Shepard from across the kitchen island as they checked over the gear they'd brought with them from the Normandy. The counter was covered with a variety of weapons and tools: pistols, rifles, shotguns, thermal clips, grenades, omni-gel packs, and a handful of mods. Shepard tried to focus on setting up her own pistol and assault rifle, but a quiet, innate rage regarding Garrus' comments was stewing quite nicely; add a pinch of Ashley query and simmer. "What happened to getting the mission done quickly and quietly and returning to the Citadel so you and Garrus could take off for your honeymoon?" Ashley asked again.

"Sounds like it's for a good cause. What's the problem?" Vega asked as he lovingly looked over his shotgun.

Ashley rolled her eyes at Vega, and Shepard couldn't help but wonder how her eyes hadn't rolled out of her head by now. "Sure, good cause… yeah. But implications!" She leaned forward against the table and tried to catch Shepard's eye. "It's still his ex we're talking about here. Anybody else think she seemed overly familiar as she was talking to Garrus? Plus, he was practically tripping over himself…"

Shepard felt her cheeks starting to burn as she listened to Ashley's observations. Was there still an attraction? She took a calming breath before trying reason, "They served together in the Turian military, Ash. You and I both know that tends to engender familiarity. I'm sure it's nothing…"

"Yeah… but they also slept together. And if they worked together during Garrus' Archangel days…" Ashley was cut off by Vega's obnoxious snort.

"Garrus and Shepard are married, Ash! He loves her, like a lot… got him drunk at his bachelor party and all he could go on about was how he was the luckiest Turian alive. I don't think a past fling is gonna get between what they've got." It was Vega's turn to roll his eyes. "You've really gotta stop watching that Asari drama crap…

"I'm not saying the fling will get in between them! But I guarantee there will be trouble…" Ashley trailed off as Garrus approached them from where he'd been talking to Aderia and Sidonis. She stared at him with a wide-eyed look for several seconds before averting her gaze and busying herself with her own weapons. "Vakarian."

Garrus gave Ashley a curious look. "You okay, Williams?"

Ashley let out a loud bark of a laugh, "Yep. Never better! I'm gonna… look out a window or something. Vega! You should come with!" she answered, her voice overly loud. "Vega?"

"Yeah, yeah… give me a minute. I'm restocking my grenades and there's a melee mod I want to- whoah!" James yelped as Ashley roughly grabbed his arm and dragged him away from the kitchen island. "Damn, woman!"

"Thanks for the pep talk, Ash!" Shepard called out after the two marines. "Real inspiring!" She turned back to her pistol, pointedly ignoring Garrus and focusing on maintaining the magazine upgrade. "Why I picked her for maid-of-honor is beyond me…"

"What the hell was that about?" Garrus asked, staring intently at Shepard. Shepard let out a nonchalant shrug and tightened a screw. "Okay… I know you're pissed…" Garrus started.

"Pissed? Why would I be pissed?" Shepard asked, expertly popping the heat sink from her weapon and aiming at one of the kitchen cabinets to check the sight. "You're in charge, right? Your mission your call…except I'm wondering when we'll be getting to the part where we actually complete the mission…"

"Shepard…"

"Garrus…"

Garrus leaned against the table with a sigh, eyeing the tech laid out on the table. A weighted silence settled between the two of them. Shepard caught James and Ashley glancing back at them from their window and felt a flush rise in her cheeks. Before the doubts that Ashley had planted could really take root, Garrus interceded, "You know I couldn't do this without you, right?"

Shepard's doubts dissipated then, and she felt the corner of her mouth lift slightly, "Sure you could. Not as stylishly of course." Garrus let out a hearty laugh that caught the attention of the others throughout the apartment. Aderia gave them a curious stare from where she was talking with Sidonis and Shepard felt herself grin. "Alright… but when this is over, and the honeymoon starts we are SOOO trying that thing I wanted to do in bed…"

"Yeah, pretty sure I owe you…" Garrus took his assault rifle from its holster on his back and looked it over. Shepard watched as his weariness from earlier quickly returned, "Never wanted to go back to Kima…" he said quietly, sounding haunted.

Shepard gently laid her hand on Garrus' arm and softly said, "That was another lifetime Garrus… you're not alone anymore…"

Garrus glanced back toward Sidonis. "I'm starting to wonder if I ever really left that life behind…" He took a breath and nodded at Shepard. "I'm good."

"Yes, you are. I can attest to that." Shepard smiled at Garrus and picked up her assault rifle to prop up on her shoulder. "Let's go deal with some Blood Pack mercenaries, shall we?"


End file.
